Salary according to the United Nations salary scale (salary survey for the New York duty station).
Department / Office: Department of Operational Support
Job opening number: 26-HRE-DOS-279281-R-NEW YORK (O)
This position is located in the United Nations Language and Communications Training Unit (LCTU) of the Capacity Development and Operational Training Service (CDOTS), office of Support Operations (OSO), Department of Operational Support (DOS).
The incumbent reports to the Head of the Language and Communications Programme of CDOTS.
Responsibilities:
Within delegated authority the Spanish Language teacher will be responsible for the following duties:
- Teaching Spanish as a foreign or second language at all levels and for all skills, and specialized high-level communication skills courses to both native and non-native speakers.
- Developing and/or teaching face-to-face, blended, online Spanish language and communications skills courses, including courses based on substantive topics.
- Developing and updating course curricula, materials and assessments (course projects, continuous assessment tasks, etc.), and correcting student work.
- Designing and delivering communication skills courses tailored to the specific needs of United Nations offices, departments and agencies.
- Design and deliver training and workshops related to communication, language learning methodologies, language curriculum application or other development projects of the LCTU, ensuring that appropriate methodologies are used.
- Meeting and corresponding with clients (students, departmental focal points, partners) to advise and provide individualized information, guidance and feedback.
- Attending and/or leading meetings and participating in/or leading LCTU projects to meet the language and communication skills needs of United Nations staff.
- Drafting, administering and/or evaluating parts of the Spanish Language Proficiency Examination, ensuring examination validity and consistency and collaborating with the related departments.
- Preparing and supervising the construction and the grading process of language examinations and tests.
- Manage the Spanish Language Programme when requested by organizing the course offering and overall schedule; the recruitment and schedules of the part-time Spanish language teachers; and the communication and evaluation measures, processes and tools.
- Set and manage programme objectives in line with the objectives of the LCTU.
- Responding to other specific needs linked to the general objectives of the United Nations Language and Communications Programme.
- Performing other duties as required, including LCTU projects; maintaining attendance and grading records; and other learning and administrative tasks.
Appointment:
This position is funded by the Regular Budget. Appointment or assignment against this position is for an initial period of one year.
The appointment or assignment and renewal thereof are subject to the availability of the post or funds, budgetary approval or extension of the mandate.
This position is subject to local recruitment pursuant to staff rule 4.4 of the United Nations Staff Rules. All staff in the General Service and related categories shall be recruited in the country or within commuting distance of each office, irrespective of their nationality and of the length of time they may have been in the country. A staff member subject to local recruitment shall not be eligible for the allowances or benefits exclusively applicable to international recruitment. The United Nations is not responsible for costs incurred during any stage of the assessment or relocating/moving to New York.
Education:
An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent degree) in language area studies, language teaching, applied linguistics, communication or education/pedagogy or related fields is required. Degrees with special emphasis on the theory and practice of teaching Spanish as a second or foreign language to adult learners are desirable.
A minimum of 500 training contact hours (specific training courses, postgraduate courses, etc.), in addition to the hours accumulated to obtain the university degree, in the areas of teaching Spanish as a second or foreign language, technology language area studies, curriculum development for adults, language examination design, communication or education/pedagogy is desirable.
Work experience:
- A minimum of five years of experience, teaching Spanish as a foreign or second language to adults in a multi-cultural setting (corporate, academic or other professional setting), is required.
- At least three years of recent experience in curriculum development, language examination design, and/or teacher training for adult Spanish learning, is required.
- Experience in teaching Spanish as a foreign language to learners of all competency levels, from beginners to advanced students (similar to UN levels UN I, UN II, and UN III in the United Nations Language Framework, or A1, A2, B1, and B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), or equivalent proficiency frameworks) is required.
- Experience developing and teaching online Spanish courses, using a variety of web 2.0 tools such as learning management systems, online collaboration tools and/or social media platforms to teach Spanish as a foreign language is desirable.
- Experience teaching to learners at expert levels (equivalent to C1 or C2 in CEFR, or UN Level IV) is desirable.
- Experience in teaching preparation courses for Spanish proficiency examinations, and/or grading Spanish proficiency examinations, is desirable.
- A minimum of six months of experience in delivering virtual, online courses is desirable.
Languages:
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this job opening, English is required. Spanish is required. The table below shows the minimum required level for each skill in these languages, according to the UN Language Framework (please consult https://languages.un.org for details).
- English: UN Level II in reading, writing, listening and speaking.
- Spanish: UN Level IV in reading, writing, listening and speaking.
Posting period: 13 October 2026 – 27 October 2026. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.
Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.
The Language and Communications Training Unit (LCTU) promotes linguistic balance and multilingualism within the Secretariat and improves the language abilities of staff, as mandated by the General Assembly in its resolutions 2480 B (XXIII), 43/224D and 50/11. In this regard LCTU offers language and communication skills courses in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish to staff members at UN Headquarters in New York and also in the Global Secretariat.
The United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, or training).